An international student group from Laurea UAS has made a mobile application which gathers in one place links to websites providing information to foreigners living in Finland. The students started the project with an interview survey about issues that cause the most problems for immigrants.
The team collaborated with Mount St. Joseph University’s cITe students to develop a mobile application called HelpMe!.
The Finnish government aims to attract more foreign talent. In practice, many who have moved to Finland for work or studies leave because they cannot integrate. Dozens of websites advise immigrants on various matters, but even Finns need help finding the correct ones. Now the links are gathered in one place.
The HelpMe! project was implemented by the P2P (Peer to Peer) student group of Laurea University of Applied Sciences. P2P is a business and project management program where economy students do real-life assignments. The development of the application is related to the marketing of the Greater Helsinki area to foreign experts and investors under the Helsinki Ring of Industry brand.
Link to the results of the interview study
The purpose was to find out which things in their everyday life are challenging. The collaboration with Mount St. Joseph University’s Center for IT Engagement (cITe) began when the results were analyzed. cITe has created an easy-to-use chatbot platform which they developed even more during the project. In general, the project provided valuable international experience in cross-cultural cooperation.
– Cooperation with cITe has been fruitful and inspiring. The project went smoothly, and I am glad we had their help in building the app. They seemed very professional and competent and definitely enriched our project, says Tereza Malíková, student project manager of Laurea’s P2P team.
– I am very happy that I had the opportunity to participate in this wonderful collaboration with the Laurea University of Applied Sciences’ HelpMe! project. I really enjoy being able to use the skills I learned in class in a real project that helps people. Getting to know Finnish culture was the most exciting thing for me. I look forward to more cooperation in the future, says Olena Holub, a student responsible for cITe’s collaboration.
– The project work between Mount St. Joseph’s cITe students and Laurea’s P2P students was smooth and direct, which helped to get good results in the project. Networking in an international cooperation project will help students in the future with the challenges of working life. We are very grateful for this opportunity to work with the cITe team. We look forward to continued cooperation, says lecturer and coach of Laurea’s P2P team Tero Uusitalo.
Laurea UAS
Laurea University of Applied Sciences operates in six locations in Uusimaa region. Business project management can be studied at the Hyvinkää and Tikkurila campuses. Laurea has approximately 7,800 students, 600 staff members and more than 30,000 alumni.
The project was implemented in cooperation with the stundents of The Center for IT Engagement (cITe). It is a department of IT education at Mount St. Joseph University, located in Cincinnati, USA. cITe researches social computing, provides academic training and commercial cooperation.
